Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 April 1874 — FAUX AND HOUSEHOLD. [ARTICLE]

FAUX AND HOUSEHOLD.

—Linen that is placed immediately after being ironed near the stove or in the hot sun is stiffer when dry than if it is permitted to dry slowly. It is a-’good plan to lay collars and small articles on a dry waiter and set them on a kettle or other support on the stove till they are quite dry. A bowl of clear water and a clean old linen cloth are useful to remove any specks the linen may acquire before or while being irened. —Mushroom Catsup.—Clean the mushrooms by wiping them and cutting off the ends of the stems. Put them in a deep pan and sprinkle salt over each layer; let them remain for two days; then put them in a sieve and strain off all the juice; pour it-into your preserving kettle. Allow twelve cloves, twelve allspice, two or three pieces of mace and half a nutmeg, grated. Let it boil for fifteen minutes; remove it from the fire, and let it stand for two or three days. Strain, and bottle for use. —The New York Herald says there is no use in manuring land to grow weeds; in buying tools to rust out under a stone wall; in erecting buildings to rot away for want of paint and care; in buying animals and leaving then) to the unhindered action of disease; in accumulating manure to fill the air with its exhalations and the brooks with its teachings; in raising forage to floor a barnyard with; in buying land to yearly lose its strength and virtue; in growing crops to feed unheeded insects. Yetmore than one of these defects may be seen on almost every farm in the country, and the extent to which they lower the average success of our farmers is greater than would be believed. —A correspondent of the Germantown Telegraph writes: “ On dry or wet ground the effect of the roller is found to he salutary. Plowed and prepared for sowing, dry land is much helped by the roller. The blades of grass spring up sooner and retain a firmer hold in the earth. In a season of drought, rolling has saved the crop when without it the seed would have never sprung from the ground. In wet and heavy ground it is believed the roller, smoothing and hardening the stlrface, will leave the soil immediately beneath the surface in a better condition to generate the seed. On grass ground that has been heaved by the frost the roller has an excellent effect in fixing the roots. Rolling the ground is also good when the land has been laid down unevenly the previous year. If the land is too dry, wait till just after a soaking rain, and it will work capitally. It is a good idea to roll plowed sowed* ground before harrowing, as it presses down the furrows that would be turned back, and makes the surface less uneven, and the harrow pulverizes it much. We find that on an average not one fanner in four has a roller.”